Menard is entering a contract season in his sixth year at Richard Childress Racing. While this driver and team has steadily improved over their time together, last year was a bit of a downturn in performance. Menard only posted five top-10 finishes en route to a 14th-place finish in the driver standings. While his average finish stayed good at 17.1, there just weren't the great runs in there that we're used to seeing with this veteran driver. Justin Alexander will return atop the team's war wagon in 2016 and hope to turn things back in the right direction. Menard has the ability to post 9-12 top-10 finishes and make a bid for a Chase berth. With his contract status in limbo at the end of 2016, there's plenty of motivation for this driver to improve and encourage a contract extension at RCR.

Menard was awarded the pole position for the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway Friday. Tropical Storm Hermine cancelled all track activity Friday, including Xfinity Series qualifying.

After qualifying fourth on the starting grid, Menard would race in the Top 10 most of the day at Martinsville Speedway. He would have a career-best weekend at the short track by earning an eighth-place finish in the STP 500, rcrracing.com reports.